Coolsville Central: Coolsville: Year One
by wsdsrdbw4096
Summary: Story based on the Batman graphic novel Batman: Year One. This is my take on the setting of Coolsville and part of my modern-day reboot of Scooby-Doo. This story primarily stars Shaggy's father Sam Rogers, a police lieutenant transferred to Coolsville from New York, while Shaggy & Daphne only appear as minor roles in this story. First fanfic.
1. List of Other Characters

**My OC's**

**Before getting to the main story, here is the list of OC's I will be using in this story.**

**This list includes OC's I will be using in the installment of my fanfic series**

**I don't own Scooby-Doo, Dynomutt, Dog Wonder, or Batman.**

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**Coolsville Police Department members**

**Police Chief Gillian Fred Hill: **The chief of police of the CPD

**Inspector Milo Graham: **Commanding officer of the CPD's East Bureau

**Captain Jason Hindley: **Commanding officer of the CPD's East Coolsville Division

**Lieutenant Brian Crowley: **Night-shift supervisor for the detective bureau at ECD

**Detective Sergeant Arnold Stokes:** Second-in-command of the ECD's detective bureau

**Detective Sergeant Kate Johnson: **ECD shift supervisor

**Detective Sean Marshall: **Detective in the ECD

**Staff Sergeant Andre Kasem:** Second-in-command in the patrol unit of ECD

**Detective Johnathan "John" Tucker: **Detective in the ECD

**Lieutenant Clifford "Cliff" Anders:** The commanding officer of the CPD's Special Weapons And Tactics (SWAT) Unit

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**Other characters**

**Donald "Don" Edgar: **Assistant District Attorney of Coolsville County

**Mayor Larry O'Toole: **Mayor of Coolsville

**The Stuntman: **Professional criminal

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**Background information: For those of you that know Scooby-Doo, you remember the series _A Pup Named Scooby-Doo_? This is the series that depicted the gang in junior high school solving mysteries. This is also the series that revealed that Shaggy's father is a Coolsville police officer.**

**As a fan of both Scooby-Doo and Batman, once I discovered this website where everyone can share their fan fiction, I started to come up with ideas for Scooby-Doo stories. One of those ideas was to tell the origin on how the gang started to solve mysteries, as they do within the entire franchise.**

**In the past, I had saw a few fan websites dedicated to Scooby-Doo. One of those websites was the _Scooby-Doo Case Files_****, which includes summaries of _Scooby-Doo Where Are You! _episodes for Seasons 1 and 2. The part that caught my mind was the page that fully explained the unusual aspects of the series.**

**One of those unusual aspects were the law enforcement officers that appear at the end of most episodes to arrest the main villain of the episode, on how they managed to hold onto their jobs if they can't bring a crook of bad costume to justice.**

**That page got me going with my thoughts and ideas, and after reading a series of Batman graphic novels and the encyclopedia, which revealed Gotham as a city that has been suffering from corruption, in particular police corruption, I thought maybe that will explain why those law enforcement officers in the _Scooby-Doo _franchise were portrayed as being incompetent, yet they somehow still managed to held onto their jobs.**

**With that in mind, I decided to use that as a way to set an origin as to how the gang started to solve mysteries. Also, remembering the graphic novel _Batman: Year One_, which this fanfic is based on, I decided that since it has already established that Shaggy's father was a police officer, maybe I can use him to play on the role of James Gordon, where he fights for reform within a crooked Coolsville Police Department. As you would discover as you read along this fanfic, I established several events that are parallel to _Batman: Year One_.**

**Now onto the story. Please read and review**


	2. The New Lieutenant

Chapter 1: The New Lieutenant

**I don't own Scooby-Doo or Dynomutt, Dog Wonder. All characters from both series belong to Hanna-Barbara Productions and Warner Bros. Also, story based on Batman graphic novel _Batman: Year One_., with Batman's copyright belonging to DC Comics.**

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_January 8, 2001_

It was a cold winter day as Lieutenant Samuel Chastain "Sam" Rogers of the Coolsville Police Department makes his way to the downtown police headquarters on light rail. That day was the first day of his new job at the CPD after his transfer from the NYPD, where he had spent 17 years of service.

As the new police lieutenant stares at the window next to his seat, he was placed into deep thoughts as he wonders what if policing in Coolsville would be the same as it is back when he was in New York.

Shortly after, the train pulled into the platform of the city's downtown railway station, where Sam got off. The police headquarters is only a few blocks away, thus he should arrive at his new job in ten minutes.

As Sam board off the train, he passed by a volunteer, asking him if he would like to donate. Just as the lieutenant replied with a polite "No, thank you", he heard his name and rank being called from the crowd of commuters.

"Sam Rogers! Lieutenant Sam Rogers!" The voice called out.

Sam turned around and noticed a blond hair man with light blue eyes and slightly tall for a person in his 30s walking towards him.

As the man walked by the volunteer, who asked if he would like to donate, he gave the volunteer a punch and a kick before making his way to Sam Rogers.

"Almost thought I couldn't find you in this crowd, lieutenant." The man said. He then offered Sam his hand, saying "Detective Sergeant Arnold Stokes. Police Chief Hill sent me here to pick you up so you won't be late for your appointment with him."

"That sure is nice of the chief, Detective Sergeant." Sam Rogers replies as they shook hands. "I'm pretty sure I might be late if I got myself held up in the crowded station platform."

"Yeah. He also figured that you might get lost, since this is your first time going to the Central, or headquarters." Arnold said as he and Sam Rogers make their way to the exit. As the two men exit the train station, Sam noticed one of the nearby newspapers stands for the Coolsville Gazette newspaper.

Swiftly, he opened the hatch to the stand and took a copy of the day's paper. The first thing that caught his eye was the headline on the front page of the paper, which read:

"DISAPPEARANCE OF KEY WITNESS

Assistant District Attorney D. Edgar forced to withdraw charges of conspiracy against the chief of police after the disappearance of a key witness."

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**First fanfic. Please read and review. Sure wonder what that conspiracy charge against the police chief was about.**


	3. Meeting the Chief

Chapter 2: Meeting the Chief

The two men didn't speak until they enter the CPD headquarters, which was a 12-storey building. As they walked past the reception desk, Arnold noticed the newspaper Sam had picked up. "One thing, Sam, for you before you go into the interview." Arnold says as the elevator door closes.

Sam turned to face Arnold. "And what is it?"

"Don't use the newspaper as your trusted source of information, Sam."

Sam just nodded, but then he asked, "Then what is up with that conspiracy charge against the chief?"

"Oh, don't you worry about that, Sam." Arnold replies. "It's just that stupid Assistant DA Edgar trying to cause some trouble to the chief to make himself look good in the upcoming election for the post of DA. Just politics, man."

"Sure, but what about the charge? Clearly, he wouldn't lay those charges against the chief just to make himself look good, don't you think?" Sam asks as the elevator car slowly moves up.

"Like I said, Sam, don't worry about it." Arnold replies. "It was just some plan the chief had in mind that he thought could be beneficial for the city and county as a whole, but there were some guys who didn't like it for some reason, so they had to get out of the way. It's just dirty politics, Sam."

Sam replied with a nod as if he accepted the explanation, but deep down he wondered if something amiss is going on. His thoughts came to a halt when the elevator bell dinged, signaling the two men that they have reached the 9th floor, where the chiefs office is located.

The door to the chief's office had words posted on the glass window. It read:

"GILLIAN F. HILL

Chief of Police

City of Coolsville"

10 minutes later, Sam Rogers is seated in a chair. Across the desk sat Police Chief Gillian Hill, who had his reading glasses on while he reviewed Sam's file.

The chief appeared to be in his 50s, with much of his brown hair chased away by the grey. He was partially bold, with hair mainly at the side and back of his head. He also appeared to be slightly overweight, and seems to know what he was doing.

"The chief seemed nice," Sam thought. He also looked around the office, noticing the diplomas the chief had received in various institutions, including a bachelor's degree in criminology at the Ohio State University. Also there were the various medals and awards the chief had received during his years of service in the CPD.

There was also a map of both Coolsville County and Coolsville City, with a zoomed-out map of the state of Ohio by its side, hung on the wall of the chief's office. Taking a brief look at the map, Sam noted that Coolsville is located several miles west from Cincinnati, near the state border with Indiana and Kentucky, while a small lake serves as a water border between the county and city.

"Lieutenant Samuel Chastain Rogers." Hill said as took a look at the lieutenant's file. "A good straight record, an excellent detective and a great person to work with." The chief then placed the file on his desk and took off his glasses as he looked at Sam Rogers. "I'm sure glad to have you as our latest addition to our team, Lieutenant. My only catch for you to be able to work here is that you give us your best work."

"You will get my best work, sir. I promise." Sam replies.

"Excellent. We are a team. And it is through the hard work and teamwork of officers like you that allows the Coolsville Police Department function well as a whole. That's why I have a lot of emphasis on you providing your best work." Hill said as he gave the file back to Sam. "And as far as I know, your good record from the NYPD indicates that you can allow the CPD to continue to function well as a whole. So on behalf of the members of the CPD, I would like to welcome you to the Coolsville Police Department." The chief said as he offered Sam his hand. They shook.

"Thank you, sir." Sam replied after the handshake. "So what is my new assignment?"

"You will be the detective commander for the East Coolsville Division. Detective Sergeant Stokes is the second-in-command there, and you will be in charge of 40 detectives, including 10 guys that works homicide." Hill replied. "Stokes will drive you there."

"All right, then, sir. It is a pleasure meeting you." Sam said as they once again shook hands. "I think I should be on my way."

"Excellent. Your office is ready for you, lieutenant." Hill replied as Sam stood up, ready to go.

Outside the office, Stokes was seated at the chair next to the reception desk to the chief's office when Sam walked out. "All ready, Sam?"

"Yeah, Arnold. Let's go." Sam replies as they make their way to the parking lot where Arnold had parked his car.

"The drive should take only about 20 minutes, Sam." Arnold added as they got into the car.

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**Next chapter: Introducing Daphne's father, millionaire George Blake**


	4. Edgars frustrations

Chapter 3: The Actor and Edgar's frustrations

Meanwhile, in the headquarters of one of the city's largest employers, Blake Industries, company CEO George Robert Nadley Blake is sitting in his office, reading the newspaper. Like Sam Rogers, the first thing that caught his eye was the news on assistant DA Edgar's removal of conspiracy charges against the police chief.

This was some frustrating news for Blake, as he had contributed $1 million to Edgar's campaign for DA. Edgar is a firm opponent on the way things operate in the city, aware of the fact that the politicians that ran the city are crooked than a question mark, involving in bribery and a wide range of illegal activities that hampered development for the city. In fact, the politicians that ran the city did nothing to address the city's high crime rate and the widening gap between the rich and poor.

While Nadley himself is a millionaire, he believes that the poor deserve help from the city's powerful and wealthy. One thing both Edgar and Blake are aware of, is the fact that those crooked politicians aren't really the people in power. The person who held actual power in the city, is a notorious crime boss who is also a mastermind of disguise. The name: Robert "Big Bob" Oakley, known through his alias, "The Actor".

Big Bob Oakley was a member of a gang of mobsters known for its members being able to commit crimes and get away with it through the use of the urban legends that has haunted Coolsville since its incorporation as a city in 1899. He went up the ranks within the gang before becoming its leader. After that, he was able to expand his criminal empire through the support of top city officials, including the incumbent mayor.

He had also found an ally in the police department in police chief Gillian Hill, who had promised to cover up his activities with the help of officers who are also supportive of the crime boss. Before long, he was the most powerful mob boss in Coolsville, engaging in a wide range of illegal activities, ranging from drug trafficking, counterfeiting, illegal gambling to planning the disappearance of key people who he considered to be a threat.

It was through that background knowledge of Oakley that led to Blake suspecting that the disappearance of that key witness during the chief's corruption trial was nothing more than the handy work of Oakley, who sought to eliminate people who could challenge his power and authority. Blake was one of those people, but Oakley couldn't bring himself to do that, since Blake is the CEO of the city's largest employers. Getting rid of Nadley, as well as top figures in Blake Industries, meant that Oakley will have to deal with a potential economic fallout, which was one of the last things he wanted to deal with.

Edgar was also on the list of people Oakley sought to eliminate. However, the assistant DA was too smart for Oakley to deal with, so Oakley turned to sabotage Edgar's efforts to clean up the city.

As George Blake placed the newspaper into his briefcase, he was greeted by a knock on his office door. "Come in," he says.

The door opened, and in came the assistant DA. Donald Edgar was a well-known civil rights attorney in Coolsville, and the younger cousin of Coolsville's first black mayor, Franklin Edgar. His term as mayor was marked with unsuccessful efforts to turn the city around, as the city council mainly comprised of city councilors that were loyal to the crime boss. His lame duck mayoral term ended in 1998 when he lost his bid for reelection.

Donald has been working as an assistant DA for 10 years, and is now gearing for the post of DA. Nadley Blake is his biggest contributor to his campaign, and the two had shared a good friendship.

"What's up, Nad?" Edgar asked as he took a seat.

"Doing all right, Don." Nadley replied. "I read on the paper that your key witness disappeared last night."

"Yeah." Donald replied with a sigh. "This just keeps on going on, and as far as I can tell, this is at least the second time this year that a key witness has disappeared. Every time I manage to find a witness who is willing to testify against those crooks, that witness disappears, leaving me to withdraw those charges, and I suspect it's that 'Actor' guy who is behind all of this."

"I agree, Don." Nadley replied. "I guess the only thing you can do right now is wishing that your next witness doesn't disappear."

"Yeah, I guess so." Edgar replied. "Sorry for wasting your money on a hopeless campaign."

"Don't worry about that, Don." Blake replied with a smile. "As long as you spent it on good causes, and if this campaign pays off, then the money I contributed won't be a waste."

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**Next chapter takes on Sam's new workplace and his family**


	5. Families and Sam's new workplace

Chapter 4: New workplace and Families

Sam Rogers spent the rest of the workday getting to know the detectives working with him, and doing some basic administrative work in his office. The watch lieutenant is a man that goes by the name of Frank Edwards, while the patrol staff sergeant is of Lebanese descent and goes by the name of Andrew Kasem, who has been on the force for about 20 years.

His office had windows facing both the squad room and outside, promoting air circulation and natural lighting through the sun outside. The detective unit is located in the squad room where Sam's office is facing, and consists of forty detectives. The forty detectives are sorted into investigating different types of crimes, such as homicide, robbery and domestic disputes.

Also located in the squad room is a watch office, where the watch sergeant, a guy with the name of Charles Goodwin, does his duties, supervising the officers at the reception at the public entrance. There was a locker room and a shower room for the patrol officers, along with several other rooms in the building for roll calls and assigning patrol cars.

Sam left for home at around 17:30, shortly after the night-shift lieutenant, with the name of Brain Crowley, arrived for the night shift.

The Rogers lived in an apartment in a small neighbourhood just west of downtown, and under the care of the Central-West Division. The drive from the East Coolsville station took about half an hour, and by the time he got home, his wife Wendy had just finished cooking supper.

Wendy Rogers worked as an accountant in a marketing firm, which had an office in Coolsville. As a result, there wasn't a need for her to quit her job back in New York when her husband got transferred, since all she needed to do was to apply for a transfer to a position available at the Coolsville office, which there was at the time the family made the move to Coolsville.

Also waiting at home were the couple's five-year-old son, Norville, and three-year-old daughter, Maggie. Since the move to Coolsville, Wendy and Sam has managed to find a daycare for Maggie and a kindergarten for Norville. Wendy's typical day goes like this: Drop Maggie off at the daycare and Norville at the kindergarten on her way to work at 8:45, arrive at work at around 9:00, have lunch at around 11:55, resume work at 13:00, and then head home at 16:30, picking up the children on the way.

Like their parents, Norville and Maggie both had light brown hair. The fact that they had large appetites meant that Wendy has to work hard on cooking meals.

Meanwhile, after his meeting with the assistant DA, Nadley Blake spent the rest of the day at business meetings and working in his office before heading home at 17:30. Unlike the Rogers, the Blakes lived in a small mansion at the quiet suburban neighbourhood of Glenborough, a neighbourhood that is located in the city's suburban west end and is in the care of the City West Division. From what Sam heard from other officers, the City West Division is the city's largest geographical police division, and yet the officers and detectives at that division had one of the lightest workloads, specifically at Glenborough.

Another thing that differentiates the Rogers from the Blake's was the fact that the Blake's are one of the richest citizens in Coolsville, and as such they can afford the hiring of butlers to take care of the mansion while the Blake's are at work. That also meant that Nadley's wife Elizabeth doesn't need to do the cooking, as she can let the family cook do it.

"Honey, I'm home." Nadley says as he entered the mansion.

"How was everything over at the company?" Elizabeth asks as she greets her husband with a kiss. Part of the reason why Elizabeth asks her husband about how everything is going at the company was due to the fact that Elizabeth was co-owner of Blake Industries along with her husband. As a result, she has to be kept up-to-date on the operations of the company when she stays at home. Likewise, Nadley has to ask his wife the same question when he stays at home, or goes on a business trip out of town, on days she goes to work.

"It's business as usual, Elizabeth." Nadley replied as he took off his suit jacket. "Assistant DA Edgar came to my office this morning for a chat."

"I see." Elizabeth replies as they walked to the living room. "I saw the news today about Edgar's withdrawal of charges against that useless police chief, and I can't believe the fact that for at least the second time this year that someone from the underworld hampers Don's efforts to clean up a city that is badly in need of reform."

"Yeah. I sure am worry about the way things turns out for the city, since this is the very city that Daphne will grow up at." Nadley replies as he and Elizabeth watches their daughter watching television.

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**Next chapter: Cracks begin to form between Sam Rogers and Arnold Stokes**


	6. Cracks between Sam and Arnold

Chapter 5: The Cracks

_January__ 19, 2001_

It has been almost two weeks since Sam started his new job at the Coolsville Police Department. During that time, he also got to meet the commander for East Coolsville Division, Captain Jason Hindley, as well as the commander of East Bureau, Inspector Milo Graham. Both men seemed welcoming to Sam, and had repeated the chief's emphasis of him providing his best work.

However, during that week, Sam was becoming increasingly suspicious about what is going on in the police department, as he was unable to keep what he had read in the newspaper a week earlier out of his mind. He was starting to get a feeling that there must be something seriously amiss going on in the police department.

As he was putting the newspaper into his briefcase, Stokes came to his office and said, "Sam, we've got a call out and we need to get over to Woodwerns Groceries at Old Miles Avenue. It was a robbery with a guy behind the counter with stab wounds."

"All right then, Stokes. Let's get going." Sam replies as he got his keys out, ready to lock his office door.

As Stokes drove their department-assigned car to the crime scene, he said, "What did I told you about the newspaper, Sam?"

"What about it?"

"I thought I told you not to trust the information the newspaper has."

"Well, Stokes, I had no idea why you have a problem with me getting the paper every day?" Sam asks.

"Let's just say that the news about the chief is totally false, and believe me, man, the way things are running in the department is the best for the city. We don't need the nut-headed media to tell us what we are doing wrong." Stokes replies in a calm but firm tone. The two spent the rest of the drive in silence, until Stokes pulled the car into the curb of the road.

"In heavens name, Stokes, what are you doing?" Sam asks, noticing the fact that they weren't at their destination. "We have a robbery to check out and –"

"Stay in the car, Sam. I'll be right back." Stokes replies as he gets off the car.

As Sam looked on, Stokes walked over to a group of teenagers gathering near a vandalized garbage bin. One of them, upon seeing Stokes, blurted out "Oh, no" and turned to walk away, but Stokes caught up with him and said "What on earth are you doing here, Jake? Aren't you supposed to be at school right now?" He then proceeded to punch and kick the boy known as Jake, while the other boys looked on, not moving a muscle. As Sam watched his partner beating up the boy, the frown on his face grew. Finally, Stokes finished beating the boy, but not before lifting him up and let go of him in the garbage bin. He then returned to the car as the boys went to carry Jake out of the garbage bin.

As Stokes shifts the car into drive, Sam asks, "Was that necessary?"

"Oh come on, Sam. That guy had this knife in his pocket and was skipping school." Stokes replied with a laugh, not taking Sam's question seriously as he handed the "knife" to Sam.

Sam took a look at the item, but it turned out to be a comb. He turned to his partner with a frown, saying "Seriously?"

"That was just for precaution, Sam."

"Oh, yeah? What will you do if that boy sues you for what you had done?"

"That won't happen, Sam. The kid is scared of me. He won't have the balls to launch a lawsuit against me."

"Then, I guess I'll have to let Internal Affairs know what you had done, Stokes."

"Yeah, yeah. Internal Affairs." Stokes says with a mocking tone. "They won't give a you-know-what on what I did. Not while I have the man on the ninth floor on my back."

They spent the rest of the drive in silence. Sam refused to speak to Arnold after that conversation, as he was too angry to even think of a response. He couldn't believe his partner, a Detective Sergeant in the police department, who should be investigating crimes, who should be mentoring younger, inexperienced detectives, who should be supervising the detective unit in the division, would do such a thing. He never encountered a police officer who exhibited this type of behavior while he was in the NYPD. He was also getting an idea on why Stokes didn't like his habit of reading the daily newspaper, as it might have a connection to what he thinks is wrong in the way the department operates, as well as the conspiracy charge the chief had faced.

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**Next chapter: Stokes complains to the chief**


	7. The complaint and the beating

Chapter 6: The Complaint and the Beating

_February__ 20, 2001_

It has been a month since Sam witnessed Stokes beating up a teenage boy just because he was armed with a "knife", which turned out to be nothing other than a comb. During this time, he had got an idea of what is wrong in the police department, and he had made the determination to set it right, through the establishment of a set of new rules that he expects his men to follow.

First, all of the detectives in his unit are to follow orders from him directly, not from Stokes, and he makes sure personally that they are not slacking off and are doing what they are supposed to be doing. Next, he made sure the officers and detectives don't come back with anything suspicious on their person. That includes extra cash obtained through bribes and drugs. Third, he had placed a strict, zero-tolerance policy on breaking his rules.

Officers who broke his rules would be disciplined, which includes being placed on probation. One of those officers placed on probation was Detective II Class Sean Marshall, who got into a heated argument with Sam after Sam stepped in and stopped him from accepting a bribe from a drug dealer, who was arrested by Sam in spite of Marshall's protests.

Those new rules were unpopular with some in his unit, and had also landed him into trouble with Inspector Graham, who had a talk with Sam in his office, which ended with the inspector threatening to have Sam dismissed as Sam angrily walked away from the inspector's office.

Stokes was also unhappy about what Sam is doing, since Sam is making massive changes to the way the squad operates, which is different than the way the other police divisions operates in the city, including Sam's zero-tolerance on accepting bribes. In addition, he had took away much of his authority in the squad, as the detectives are now forced to comply from Sam's orders and rules. After seeing Sam's angry conversation with Graham, he decided to jump command by going to the chief to talk about what Sam is doing.

The chief listened silently as Stokes describes what Sam is doing, mentioning one time while on a case, while Sam is shaking hands with a convicted con-man, the con-man slipped a one-hundred dollar bill into Sam's hand during the handshake.

"And then he sees the $100 bill, looked at his hand as if his hand got a disease on it, and threw the bill right into the guy's face." Stokes says, finishing the description of the event. "And then, every morning, he gives the squad a 2-hour lecture on some boring junk he believed to be important, and then, get this, he had placed Marshall on probation for arguing with him over his move of forcing Marshall to refuse the bribe from this drug dealer, as well as trying to help that guy escape from custody." Stokes continues with an angry tone in his voice. "I'm telling you, Gill. That lieutenant is just not fitting in."

"I see what you meant, Arnold." Hill replies with a frown. "I had high hopes for Rogers on being able to fit into our team, and now we realized how much of a meddler he is. I was hoping you can find out some way to make him change his mind."

"I sure do, Gill." Arnold replies with a smirk. "I can use the boys to soften him up. That should teach him a lesson for trying to make the squad _his _squad."

"Sounds like a good idea, Arnold. But you better not do it while I'm in town, because there is already enough heat on me as it is right now. Wait until I'm away for that police chief's conference in Washington next week."

After the discussion in the office, Stokes walked out with a smirk on his face. He ran into Inspector Graham while waiting for the elevator.

"Detective Sergeant Stokes." Graham says. "What did the chief say about dealing with the way Rogers is running the squad?"

"I can use the guys in my squad to soften him up, Milo. That's the only way for us to teach him a lesson, I'm afraid." Stokes replied as the elevator doors opened and he and Graham walked into the car.

"Well, as long as he changes his mind on how things should operate in the department, then we're good."

_February 28, 2001_

A few days later, one night at the parking lot behind East Coolsville Division, Sam walked to his car, which was parked in the dimly-lighted part of the parking lot. As he made his way to his car, he saw three figures with ski masks and baseball bats walking towards him. They then swing their bats at Rogers, who ducked and counterattacked before he suddenly felt something hitting him in the head.

As it turned out, more men in ski masks showed up behind him. They first knocked him down and then beat him with their bats. During that beating, Sam recognized laughter from behind one of the ski masks.

"Stokes." Sam thought to himself before blacking out. Before that happens, he heard a voice warning him that they will go after his wife if he continues to run the squad the way he does.

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**Ouch! Sure hope Sam Rogers is okay. Wonder what happens next? Please read and review.**


	8. Getting even

Chapter 7: Getting even

Sam Rogers was lucky to be all right. He only suffered from a black eye and bruises in the ribs, and no broken bones. His injuries weren't bad enough to keep him in the hospital, so he was able to continue on working. In the days since the beating, Sam came up with a plan to get even with Stokes, who masterminded the beating. The officers involved in the beating were smart to keep their identities concealed with the help of ski masks, but Stokes' laughter gave him away during the beating, allowing Sam to figure out who was behind the beating. Apparently, Stokes didn't think Sam was able to keep himself conscious for a longer time, and that was a mistake that allowed Sam to think of the plan.

_March 4, 2001_

It has been four days since Sam was beaten by Stokes and his gang of officers. That evening, Sam was driving his car, with a baseball bat on the passenger seat by the side of the driver's seat. As he drove on, he used a rover to communicate with the stations shift supervisor, saying, "Johnson, I will like to know if Stokes is on duty now."

It took a few moments for Johnson to come back to Sam, replying, "Stokes? He's off duty, lieutenant. He's probably over at the East End playing poker with the guys."

"With the guys," Sam thought after thanking Johnson. He had an idea who Stokes will normally hang out with, and he know that they normally hang out at one of the guys house, which is located in the eastern suburbs of the city, at a community close to the city's rural border with the county. With that in mind, Sam drove on to his destination.

An hour later, Sam was parked at the guys' house, with the cars lights out. By then, the sun had completely set, which makes it hard for anybody passing by to see him in the car. Sam waited patiently. Soon, at around 21:30, the door to the house opens, and a man Sam instantly recognized as Detective Marshall came out. Marshall got into his car and then drove off; not noticing his lieutenant was watching him. Sam continued to wait. Soon, another man came out. It was Officer I Class Joshua Waddel, who appeared to be slightly intoxicated. Sam also let him be and continued waiting. After another hour of waiting, Sam's efforts finally paid off when Stokes came out of the door.

He was clearly intoxicated, yet he climbed into his car and backed out of the driveway. It took a near collision with a fire hydrant before he remembered to turn on the cars headlights. After that, he drove off, as Sam followed, keeping the headlights of his car off. Sam continued to follow Stokes as he drove onto a two-lane highway that leads off through a forest before exiting the city. Sam waited until he did not see a house for a period. Then he sped up and ran Stokes' car off the road, causing Stokes to crash into a tree in the woods. At that time, Stokes was driving 20 miles over the speed limit, but luckily it wasn't fast enough for him to end up in a box when the car crashed into the tree.

Stokes managed to get out of the car unharmed, but then he saw Sam having a gun pointed towards him. Sam then asked him to drop his weapon, which Stokes did. Then Sam put down his own gun and then tossed the baseball bat to Stokes.

FLASHBACK

Sam is watching Stokes beating up the teenage boy. He watches his partner's moves, and thought to himself: From the moves Arnold is doing, I have no doubt that he must had Army Rangers training while he was in the Army. Sam had served in the Marines prior to becoming a police officer, but he had been to several Army Rangers martial arts training sessions before, thus he was able to remember the moves the Rangers did were they same moves Stokes is currently doing. Make sure I remember those moves for future reference. He then thought.

END OF FLASHBACK

The two men engage in a fight, as Stoke tries to aim for Sam in the same fashion he did during the beating a week ago. However, Sam managed to anticipate several of Arnold's moves, through the results of his training in military martial arts back when he was in the Marines, yanked the bat from Stokes' hands, and then take out his partner by punching him dozens of times. After making sure Stokes doesn't move a muscle, Sam then took one of Stokes' handcuffs and proceeded to handcuff his partner. He had also taken off much of Stokes clothes and then took Stokes' gun and tossed it into the nearby creek. He then took the baseball bat, went back to his car and drove away, leaving his partner cuffed and partially naked in the forest. As he drove away, Sam thought to himself, "Thanks for teaching me what it takes to be a cop in Coolsville, Stokes."

* * *

_March 6, 2001_

Two days later, in the morning, Sam was going through some reports in his office when he saw his partner walking into the squad room, with a cast around his arm and shoulder. He was also bandaged and had some bruises in his face.

"Holy cow, Arnold!" One of the detectives exclaimed when he sees Stokes, "What on earth happened to you, man?"

"Oh, it happened after the poker party, Sean." Arnold said with a pained expression. "I was on my way home when some guys, at least a dozen of them, from one of Big Bob's rival gangs ran me off the road and beat the stuffing out of me."

"Holy cats! I hope you get better soon, Arnold."

"Yeah, I hope so too."

Sam smiled to himself as he overheard the conversation between Stokes and Marshall. He knew his partner won't tell on him, and will make up some story involving at least a dozen attackers and will never admit that he did it to him. "But he did learn," Sam thought as he continued on reading the stack of reports, "I sure taught him to leave Wendy alone."

* * *

**Next chapter: A hostage situation**


	9. The Rescue

Chapter 8: The Rescue

_March 27, 2001_

It has been three weeks or so since Sam had got even with his partner. In the weeks since that beating, many of the officers and detectives in his squad are following Sam's new rules, with less cases of officers being placed on probation, which impressed Sam. This was a frustration for Inspector Graham, who continued to threat Sam to have him dismissed. In the mid-morning, Sam was doing some paperwork in his office when the phone ringed.

"Rogers, East Coolsville Division." He said as he picked up the phone.

"Lieutenant, Inspector Graham here. I want you in my office, right now." Graham replied at the other end with a stern tone in his voice.

"Are you kidding me, Inspector? I'm in the middle of some important stuff now and I can't leave my office."

"Doesn't matter, Rogers. I want you to be at my office, right now."

"In your dreams, Inspector. You are just wasting my time and your own time."

"Oh, is that right? Say this one more time and –" Sam instantly hung up the phone before the inspector could finish his threat.

Sam Rogers continued on with his paperwork, and was almost finished when someone knocked on his office door. Sam turned and looked, it was Staff Sergeant Kasem.

"Yes?"

"Sir, what was the inspector calling you for?" Andrew asked.

"Oh, he was trying to get me to see him in his office and I'm in the middle of some important stuff right now, and I can tell you that he wanted me to explain the meaning of running the squad this way."

Kasem shook his head in response. "I figured. That guy is wasting his time."

"Yeah."

After the conversation with Kasem, Sam managed to finish his paper work when the door opened. In came Inspector Graham, who had a frown on his face.

"Rogers. What is the meaning of this?" He asked with a venomous tone in his voice.

"I had no idea, Inspector, but I thought you've got better things to do right now instead of calling me to your office and demand an explanation on the way I'm running this squad." Sam replied with a calm but firm voice.

"Oh, is that so, Lieutenant? To me, getting you straight is an important thing to do. The watch lieutenant and Captain Hindley are concerned about the way you are running this squad."

"Getting me straight, eh? You're just wasting your time trying to convince me that the way things are doing right now is the best and that I don't have to meddle with that. If fact, I don't care what those two men think. They're not making me back down."

"That's what you think, Rogers, but all I can tell you is that if you continue to try to mess with the way the department is running, I can and will have the chief dismiss you."

"Yeah, yeah, forcing me to turn in my badge. You should know that covering up many of the department's problems isn't the way to go, Inspector," Sam said with a sarcastic tone in his voice when referring to Graham's rank, "If fact, if you carry on like that, that decision can come back to haunt you."

"Oh yeah? And just how far do you think you are going, Rogers?"

"Just watch me, Inspector. Now if you will excuse me," Sam says as he saw a hand signal from one of his officers out at the window, "I have a crime scene to check out."

With that, he walked out of his office, locking the door in the process, and walked by Graham without acknowledging him as he made his way to the parking lot.

* * *

_April 3, 2001_

It has been a week since Sam had his heated conversation with Graham. During the rainy day, Sam was driving his departmental car in the busy Coolsville traffic, on his way to meet up with his patrol unit, who had responded to a hostage situation earlier that morning. He had his radio on so Kasem can keep him up-to-date on what is going on at the scene.

"Andrew. What's the current situation?" Sam asked as he stopped at a red light. "The same as before, sir. No shots fired yet. Guy still had gun pointing at the girl's head." Kasem responded.

The hostage situation the patrol unit had responded to was located in the neighbourhood of East Dote, a neighbourhood that is currently pending redevelopment. What had happened was that patrol had received a tip on where the notorious kidnapper Johnny Hardy is hiding out. When patrol arrived at the apartment, they spotted Hardy, who had a girl that was kidnapped as a hostage. The officers tried to talk him into surrendering, but the man headed back into the apartment and, where he then got his gun and went to the window facing the officers, threatening to open fire unless the officers back away. Since Sam had a lot of experience dealing with serious hostage situations like this one, Kasem had to radio him in to end the situation.

Just as the light turned green, Sam was about to hit the gas when Kasem radioed in, saying, "Uh oh, sir. We've got trouble, sir."

"What is it?" Sam asked. Before hearing a response, he heard Kasem trying to tell someone to stand down, and he instantly became alert when Kasem says, "It's Anders, sir." It had only consisted of three words, but that was enough for Sam to activate the siren on his car and speed up. "Anders." He muttered as he sped through the busy Coolsville traffic.

Lieutenant Clifford Anders is the commander of the departments SWAT unit. Whenever there was a riot or any acts of violence that required SWAT assistance, Anders would lead his SWAT team to sort things out, often with destructive, and in some cases, fatal consequences.

FLASHBACK – One Month Ago

Sam had got the newspaper that morning as usual, and the first thing that caught his eye was a news report on the front page, which covered the riot that took place at South Coolsville, which occurred following the elimination of the Coolsville hockey team in the state finals. The riot led to Anders moving his SWAT team in to calm the riot. The result: There wasn't a glass window in the area that wasn't shattered when the SWAT team moved in to calm the riot. Not even a single statue was left standing, and there wasn't a rioter or a passerby who didn't stay in the hospital overnight.

END OF FLASHBACK

Knowing for a fact that Anders had a history of leading his team to do a lot of damage, Sam knew that meant only one thing after hearing that Anders was at the scene: There is going to be a massacre. With that in mind, he pressed the gas pedal down further.

Meanwhile at the scene, much of Anders SWAT unit have moved out of their transport van, and Kasem and some of Sam's officers were trying to convince Anders to stand down, with unsuccessful results.

"Lieutenant," Kasem was saying, "There's no need for your team to storm that guy with the gun. It's like using a cannon to kill a mosquito."

"I don't care, Staff Sergeant." Anders retorted. "We're losing time now, and I don't see your soft-hearted lieutenant anywhere, and –" Anders didn't have time to finish when his attention was drawn to a car pulling up at the scene, narrowly missing some people who are watching the drama unfold. The car then stopped, and out came Lieutenant Sam Rogers.

Sam Rogers looked around. There was a media van parked nearby, and a reporter was standing in front of a camera man, reporting the situation. Sam then walked over to Kasem and Anders. All of Anders' men retreated when they saw the approaching lieutenant. There was a sea of "Oh, man", "Aw, nuts" and "It's Rogers" with unmistakable moaning coming from Anders' men as they retreated.

"Andrew, tell the officers to stand down. I'll handle this." He said. He then turned to Anders and said with a calm but stern tone in his voice, "Anders, I don't see why is it necessary for you to show up to try to deal with this hostage situation? It would be better if you go somewhere else to start your own war. Either that, or I can have charges pressed against you."

With that, Sam walked towards the entrance of the building, which was in a state of disrepair. At the entrance, he looked up, making eye contact with Hardy, pulled out his gun, showed it to Hardy, and then he placed it on the ground. He then walked into the building.

Meanwhile at home, Wendy Rogers was watching the news channel and was shocked to see her husband going into the apartment. Fortunately, Norville and Maggie were having a nap, so they didn't see what was going on in the news.

Back in the building, Sam carefully made his way up the wooden stairs. Much of the wood has cracks, as so does the walls. There was spray paint on the walls as well. As he climbed the stairs, he didn't notice a stray cat watching him from the top of another set of stairs.

Sam made it to the top of the stairs when the door burst open and out came Hardy, still armed with the gun and pointing it to the girl. "Now, now, mister. Calm down, I won't hurt you if you do what I told you." Sam says, giving the kidnapper a calming gesture. However, the man replied, "You're not taking me in, officer!"

Just as Sam was thinking of saying something, the stray cat suddenly hissed loudly, frightening the kidnapper who turned the gun away from the girl. Seizing the opportunity, Sam quickly slapped the gun away from Hardy. Hardy, taken aback from what Sam has done, tried to punch Sam, but Sam managed to dodge the punch and then returned with a kick that caused Hardy to lose his balance and fell flat on the floor, not moving. Swiftly, Sam walked over to Hardy and handcuffed him as he said, "Mr. Hardy, you're under arrest for kidnapping, resisting arrest, and attempted murder." He then radioed in and say, "Kasem. Send me two men up to pick up suspect." "On the way, sir." Kasem replied.

After the two officers came and read Hardy his constitutional rights and freedoms, Sam walked into the room where Hardy was hiding in before his arrest. In the room, he found 5 other children, all shivering and shaken up by the ordeal, and the girl. He crouched down as he looked at the children, ensuring them that they are now in safe hands.

After that, he thought of something and placed his hand into his pocket. From the pocket, he pulled out a pack of chewing gum, opened it, and then showed it to the children and asked, "Anybody want chewing gum?"

* * *

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	10. A Hero in Coolsville

Chapter 9: A Hero in Coolsville

_April 4, 2001_

The next day, Sam's act of heroism had all of Coolsville buzzing, as his act of bravery was constantly mentioned in the Coolsville Gazette, which had the following headline on the front page:

"HERO COP

Police lieutenant Sam Rogers takes down kidnapper and rescues six hostages in East Dote"

The headline of the paper was accommodated with a photo of Sam posing with the six children, all with smiles on their faces as Hardy was taken into police custody. In addition, the news of Sam's brave act was constantly broadcast on the news as Coolsville's top story.

At work, many of the officers and detectives went over to praise Sam for his act of heroism, with one of them making a photocopy of the newspaper headline and have it framed in the squad room, which was meant to show the officers at the other divisions that they're working with the hero lieutenant.

Not everyone is happy with what Sam had done the day before. One of those people was the chief of police, who had a copy of the newspaper waiting for him in his office when he arrived at his office that morning.

Hill was examining the photo of Sam and the rescued children on the front page when he heard a knock on the door. "Come in," he said.

The door opened, and in came Lieutenant Anders, who had a frustrated look on his face. "That mediocre!" Anders says angrily as he took a seat. "I can't believe what happened yesterday!"

"Don't tell me you're angry on what Rogers did to you yesterday, Cliff." Hill replied.

"You got it, Gill. I was about to send in my unit to storm that blasted kidnapper, and that jerk just has to show up at the last minute and dismiss me. All he had to do was unarm himself, go in and knock the stuffing out of that guy, while I had to stand by and do nothing as his men went in and grab the guy in handcuffs. He humiliated me in front of my own men and everyone in Coolsville, Gill."

"Yeah. That lieutenant is nothing but _trouble_, that one." Hill replied as he shook his head, with Anders nodding in agreement. "I was wishing I had acted early when Arnold and Milo came to me and warned me about him, and I just have to agree to Arnold's stupid plan to soften Rogers up, and now look at how that plan backfired on him. I wish I had done something sooner."

"Yeah, I wish I can help you on what to do, Gill." Anders replied with sympathy in his voice.

"Thanks for your support, Cliff." Hill replied as he looked back at the newspaper headline. "We will eventually find a way to get rid of that honest Rogers, but for now we have to be patient. Rogers got the media on his side."

As Anders exited the chief's office, he was greeted by Inspector Graham, who then proceeded to enter the chief's office.

"Milo." Hill says as he allowed the inspector to take a seat.

"Gill." Graham replies as he sat. "It sure is frustrating on the way things turned out for us."

"I totally agree with you, Milo." Hill replies. "It's already bad enough having that meddler Edgar meddling with the way things are going in the department, and now we've got this whole new obstacle to overcome: How to get rid of Rogers without having to deal with the nut-headed media, who now are entirely on his side."

"Yeah. I wished we had seen this coming, so we can act sooner." Graham replies. "What should we say to Oakley when we have our meeting?"

* * *

"I don't want any excuses." Oakley says as Graham and Hill sat in his office later during the evening. He was speaking to one of his men.

"I want to know why exactly that Hardy guy was allowed to remain free for so long, allowing Gill and Milo's honest and meddling lieutenant to become a hero. You guys should have done your job of bumping him off months ago. Obviously you didn't listen! Milo and Gill now have to be careful while dealing with that meddler, now that he's got the media on his side."

Oakley took a deep breath before continuing, "For failing to comply with that order, Small Jack, you are not entitled to get a share of our drug trafficking and counterfeiting profits for two weeks. Be thankful that I'm not a cruel, ruthless leader, because if I was, then I would have done this!"

Oakley then raised a finger and slowly slides it across his throat. "Is that understood?"

"Y-y-yes, boss." The gangsters all replied.

After Small Jack and his men left, Oakley turned to his two visitors. "I really felt sorry for you guys, Gill, Milo." He said. "It must be pretty stressful to deal with a blasted meddler who is meddling with the way the city is running and has now got the media on his side."

"You got that right, Robert." Hill replies as he took a sip of his glass of wine.

"However, both Gill and I will try to come up with a plan to get rid of that lieutenant, Robert, through careful planning, so we can safeguard your empire." Graham replies as he finished his drink. "But for now, we must be patient." Oakley nodded as he took a sip of his wine.

After the meeting with the crime boss, Hill and Graham headed home. Unbeknown to the police chief or the inspector, a dark figure dressed in blue and in the shape of a falcon is watching them leave.

"Soon, Mr. Oakley. Your control of Coolsville will soon be no more."

The figure then disappears into the dark alley.

* * *

**Okay, then. Who was that dark figure that was watching Hill and Graham leaving their meeting with Oakley? Stay tuned to find out!**


	11. The Mystery of the Vigilante

Chapter 10: The mystery of the vigilante

_April 11, 2001_

A week later, Coolsville has been rocked by a series of reports of the sighting of a vigilante dressed as a falcon, which appears at night. The night before, a trio of breaking and entering robbers was found in a dazed state on the fire escape, and while giving a resume of what had took place that night, they all claimed to see a man dressed as a giant falcon appearing out of nowhere while they were making off with their loot, which then proceeded to knock them off. "I could have sworn that guy was like a devil." One of the robbers was quoted as saying while being interviewed by the Coolsville Gazette.

_April 16, 2001_

A few days later, Sam is in the squad room giving his detective squad a lecture as usual. This time, the prime focus was on the mysterious vigilante. He had witness sketches of the vigilante displayed on the projector screen, with all of the detectives in the squad, except for Stokes, who is in a wheelchair and was bandaged almost everywhere, watching the screen and taking notes.

"So as you can see, gentlemen," Sam says, beginning the lecture, "this vigilante, better known as 'The Blue Falcon' through witness accounts of him dressed in dark blue and being in the shape of a falcon, has committed at least 60 counts of assault in the past week." He then turned to the slide that has a sketch done in better detail of the vigilante as he continued, "According to some witness accounts, he would show up from nowhere, primarily during nighttime, and then come across a 'person of interest' and knock the person out."

He then turned on the lights in the squad room and gestured to Stokes, saying, "Detective Sergeant Stokes was quite unfortunate to cross paths with the vigilante the other night. So tell us, Stokes, what exactly happened? And try not to exaggerate."

FLASHBACK – Four Days Ago

Stokes had received a tip on where a drug transfer was to take place, so he went over to the place and saw four members of a low-level drug gang securing the transfer of the drugs in a delivery truck. The men saw Stokes approaching and offered him a bribe, which the dirty detective accepted. But just as Stokes accepts the bribe, one of the men suddenly looked very foolish, and then slumps to the ground.

"What the? What's the matter with Joe?" One of the men asked as Joe lay on the ground, not moving. Suddenly, a swift of wind blew the men's hats off their heads. "Who's there?" One of the other men asked as they draw their weapons, ready to open fire. Soon, a figure dressed as a giant falcon landed in front of the group, fists ready. Instantly, the men opened fire, but to their surprise, the vigilante dodged them and then suddenly appeared behind one of the men, knocking him out. Before long, it was just the vigilante and Stokes, who had a look of horror on his face.

END OF FLASHBACK

"It was like my report, lieutenant." Stokes begins as he recounts what had happened. "That devil showed up as I was accepting a bribe from those guys. The guys tried to shoot him, but he was moving too fast, and used the darkness of the night to shield himself. Before they figured out where he went, he suddenly showed up and knocked down one of them. Soon it was just him and me, I tried to run, but he managed to catch up and did all of this to me. That guy is clearly a devil!"

The detectives laughed as they listen to what Stokes had to say, as well as the tone of horror in Stokes' voice.

"Now, now, gentlemen." Sam says as he silenced the squad. He then turned to Stokes, and said "Carry on, detective, please."

* * *

Meanwhile at the chief's office, Inspector Graham and Police Chief Hill were discussing those random acts of assault by the mysterious vigilante.

"I've been thinking, Gill." Graham says as he sips his cup of coffee. "At least 60 acts of assault on Oakley's low-level street operations, this week alone. Should we be worried?"

"I'm not sure. One thing I do know was that Arnold got attacked 4 nights ago, and Lieutenant Rogers is leading his unit to investigate." The police chief replied as he tossed the newspaper aside.

"Rogers?" Graham asked. "He sent me a form requesting for personnel this morning. I suppose he filled that request to carry on with the investigation of that vigilante."

"I suppose so. Have you responded to his request, Milo?"

"Yes. I told him that I find it excessive."

"You got it right. That vigilante may be breaking a few laws, but with those citizens of Coolsville having a hero they can count on, they can feel the city is safer and they would question less on how the city operates."

"I agree, Gill." Graham replies as he finished his cup of coffee. As long as the vigilante only targets low-level criminals like common thieves and purse-snatchers or shoplifters, the citizens of Coolsville won't question much on how the city operates and everything should be all fine for Hill and Graham.

Or so they thought.

* * *

_April 20, 2001_

A few days later at night, the police chief, Graham, Oakley, some of Oakley's men and several city officials, were at the mayors luxurious mansion down in East Border for a dinner party, where they were discussing "business" and politics. For the most part, however, they tone of the party was playful.

Unbeknownst to everyone in the mansion, a figure stealthily appears at the front garden of the mansion. The figure first moved to drugged many of the security guards, who were keeping watch of the mansion at the front garden. After taking out the guards, the figure then moved to the window facing the dining room, where many of the city's top figures, including the chief of police and the mayor, are having dinner with Oakley.

Unaware that they're being watched, Oakley chats with the mayor and the police chief as they eat.

"I heard about those incidents involving a blue falcon-like figure in the past week or so," the mayor, a fellow with the name of Larry O'Toole, says as he eats.

"Yeah." Oakley replies as he took a sip of red wine.

"Have you ever seen that Blue Falcon, Larry?" his secretary asked.

"Of course not." The mayor replied, "However, I do have a colleague at Gotham City who had reported sightings of a bat-like figure prowling the streets and behaves the same way as our mysterious blue falcon."

"Sounds like he might have the same problems as you do, Larry." The police chief interjected.

The mayor nodded in agreement as he continued, "Similarly, my friend over at Big City has told me that there has been reported sightings of another vigilante dressed like our guy."

"Could it be possible that vigilante over at Big City and our guy are one and the same?" Graham asked as he took a sip of his water.

Before any of the people in attendance could answer Graham's question, Oakley spoke up, saying, "Well, I hate to break this, gentlemen, but I believe it is best if you have your men be on the lookout for that guy, Gill."

"I don't see why, Robert. That vigilante had a positive impact on the city's spirit, and the people of Coolsville are feeling safer. With a drop of street-level crime, they will be happy and don't have the need to question the way the city is running." Hill replies.

"You are right on that, Gill." O'Toole says. "But I'm don't think you are entirely right on your point on 'having a positive impact on the city's spirit', Gill. That vigilante has to strike at a time when we're having trouble with money."

"That's right, especially with the shutdown of some street-level operations, my organization has been losing money lately, Gill." Oakley added. "I don't like how he is stirring things up around the city, especially when you still got that meddling Edgar stirring things already."

Back outside, the figure went over to the electric station, where it then proceeded to shut off the mansions electricity, resulting in a pitch black inside the mansion.

"What the devil..." Hill asked as the lights went out without warning.

"What are those guards doing?" O'Toole asked as Oakley quickly shouted into his radio, "Hey! You should be on the lookout for snoopers!"

Before anyone could get an answer to what had happened, a smoke grenade suddenly came through the window, shattering it in the process, and then went off, filling the room with smoke. When the smoke dispersed, through the lone candle light that become the room's sole source of lighting, to everyone's horror, a tall-looking figure dressed in dark blue and in the shape of a falcon was standing on the dining table, with all eyes on him.

"Ladies and gentlemen." The figure starts to say, "There are thousands of people starving in the streets of Coolsville, and needless to say, the city is at the verge of decline, and yet what are you doing? Enjoying you luxurious dinner, in a rich mansion, doing illegal business activities that allowed you to control the city's wealth, while doing nothing to improve the lives of the citizens you are supposed to serve, even to the point of turning a blind eye on Robert 'Big Bob' Oakley's kidnapping of prominent people who are trying reform the city and do what you are supposed to be doing. You all have eaten Coolsville's wealth, glory and its spirit. Starting right now, none of you are safe." It then went over to the candle, and says, "Have a good night." With that, it extinguished the flame and disappeared into the darkness.

* * *

**Next chapter: Investigating.**

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	12. The Investigation and the Encounter

Chapter 11: The Investigation and the Encounter

_April 21, 2001_

The next morning, Sam, along with several of the department's command staff, was called over to the chief's office for a meeting. After the meeting, the chief held Sam back and told him that they have been ordered to find out who the vigilante is and capture him.

"No more excuses, Rogers. That vigilante either goes down instantly or you go ask for another job, lieutenant!" Hill said angrily as Sam walked out of his office, replying with a calm "Yes, sir."

In the days that followed Sam's discussion with Hill, Sam's squad came up with various tactics to try to lure the mysterious vigilante out during the night. One night, two of his detectives acted as muggers armed with knives while an officer acts as a would-be-victim, with several plainclothes officers standing by acting as bystanders watching the act. Another day, two officers posed as gangsters while another two posed as drug dealers selling the drugs.

However, the police's attempts to lure the vigilante were fruitless. In fact, the vigilante increased his attacks on Oakley's organization, as well as the organizations of other high-level criminals in Coolsville, ever since he crashed Oakley's dinner party. One day, Sam saw the news on the vigilante running Oakley's car off the road, smashing it as a result. Another day, the crime boss was found stripped, partially naked and tied-up in his mansion.

There was one person who benefited from what the activities of the vigilante. Assistant DA Don Edgar arrived in his office one morning to find evidence of corruption of high-level city officials on his desk. With that, he was able to carry on with his agenda to rid Coolsville of corruption and gear up his campaign for the DA's office. This had also made him a suspect of being the mysterious vigilante, since he had benefited from the vigilantes activities.

Under orders from the chief, Sam went to interview the assistant DA in his office, seeing if he is really the mysterious vigilante. However, that suspicion reached a dead-end as the assistant DA revealed that he had solid alibis at the time of the attacks.

"Sorry if I had wasted your time, Mr. Edgar." Sam says as he put his notebook back into his coat pocket.

"No, no. It is okay, Lieutenant Rogers." Edgar replied. "I figured that police chief would take advantage of this and send someone over to interview me once news broke that the evidence of corruption has been discovered in my office."

"I see." Sam replied as he stood up. "I better get going now, Mr. Edgar. Have a nice day."

After Sam Rogers left, closing the door in the process, Edgar went back to his desk and looked under the desk, saying, "I thought he wouldn't leave. You can come out now." A few seconds later, the Blue Falcon emerged from hiding.

_April 30, 2001_

A week later, in the morning, Sam was driving through the city in his car with his new partner Detective Sergeant Kate Johnson, who had replaced Stokes as the second-in-command of the detective unit, with Stokes being demoted to work in a detective team in burglary, discussing their frustrations on not being able to spot the Blue Falcon.

"That vigilante sure is elusive. He doesn't fall for our ploys, and he seems to know where and when we set our traps for him. To make matters more frustrating, all of the suspects, the biggest one being Assistant DA Edgar, all had solid alibis during the time of the vigilantes' appearances." Johnson was saying.

"I agree." Sam says as he drove on. "It can't be possible for any average citizen to take up that disguise just to fight crime, even though I do know that there's got to be someone behind the mask."

"Wait a minute, sir." Kate suddenly said. "I forgot to tell you about a report from the Big City Police Department. They also had reports of the Blue Falcon's sighting."

"Big City? Why, that city isn't that far away from Coolsville. It's just across the state line from Coolsville County. Could it be possible that the Blue Falcon of Big City and the Blue Falcon of Coolsville are one and the same?"

"It is possible, sir."

"Did the BCPD came up with any suspects?"

Before Kate could answer, their attention was diverted to an out of control van that almost collided with them.

"My word!" Sam exclaimed as he managed to steer the car out of the van's way at the last minute. "We better follow that van!" With that, he activated the siren, made a U-turn, and started to chase the van. Through the van's side-view mirrors, Sam and Kate noticed that the driver is unconscious, which may explain why the van was speeding out of control.

Before they could do something, Kate shouted, "Uh-oh!"

Before Sam can ask why, his attention was diverted to an elderly man, who is walking across the street, unaware that he had gotten into the path of the out-of-control van.

"Blast!" Sam exclaimed. "Kate, you take over driving the car. I'll jump on the van and try to steer it out of the way."

"Are you crazy?"

"What other choice do I have?"

Reluctantly, Johnson took control of the steering wheel as Sam opened the drivers' door and stood up, trying to jump onto the van. Spotting an opening in the van, Sam quickly jumped onto the van as Kate steered away from the van. After barely managing to hold on to the van, Sam makes his way to the vans drivers' seat and was trying to steer the van away from the elder man when a familiar looking figure came out of nowhere and pushed the man out of the vans path just as the van sped by, barely missing the two figures. Before Sam can register what had happened, the van crashed into a nearby tree. After that collision, Sam managed to drag the driver out and called for paramedics.

He then saw Johnson out of the car, aiming her service weapon at the Blue Falcon. Her attention was diverted when she saw her lieutenant in a dazed state. "Are you all right, sir?"

Before Sam can reply, the Blue Falcon snatched the gun away from Johnson and fled into a nearby abandoned building. "I'll call for backup." She said after seeing the figure disappear.

"No, no, wait!" Sam exclaimed before suddenly feeling dizzy, where he then collapsed onto the sidewalk.

"Lieutenant!" Johnson yelled after seeing Sam on the ground. Quickly, she administered first-aid on Sam as backup units moved in. The last thing Sam heard before blacking out was the sirens of a patrol car.


	13. Blackmail and Confession

Chapter 12: Blackmail and confession

_May 1, 2001_

Sam was lucky to be all right. He got out of the ordeal with a minor headache, and was treated for shock. He then remembered what had happened the day before, and realized that the Blue Falcon had saved a man's life, which contributed to his decision to order Johnson not to call for back-up.

After being discharged from the hospital, Sam took the daily paper and the first thing that caught his eye was the news report on the police showdown with the Blue Falcon. That ended with the vigilante making good of his escape, while many of Anders' men, who were called in by the police chief, who had went to the site in hopes to capture the vigilante himself, and Anders himself sustained injuries as a result of trying to take down the vigilante, with one SWAT member suffering from broken bones while another got a concussion after being beaten by the vigilante.

As Sam expected, the chief wasn't quite happy with the way things turned out the day before. He also felt guilty for causing Anders' injuries, although the SWAT commander had forgiven him for what had happened.

* * *

_May 8, 2001_

A week after the encounter, Sam was at his office working when Johnson knocked on the door. "Have you heard about what happened to Stokes, sir?"

"Not that I know of. Why?" Sam asked.

"Apparently, the Blue Falcon had turned Willie Dovely, the drug trafficker and a long time underworld associate of Stokes. He offered to testify against Stokes."

"Holy cow!" Sam exclaimed. "When did this happen?"

"Last night, sir. The assistant DA is meeting with Stokes and his lawyer today. I heard he is offering Stokes a plea bargain."

"I see. I expect the chief to not be happy to hear this."

Sam was right. Back at the chief's office, Hill and Graham were both in a frustrated mood that day. "First, that blasted vigilante caused injuries to Anders and his men, and now Stokes is going to trial to face those baloney charges." Hill says angrily as he threw the paper to the side of his desk. "I can't believe things would eventually come to this!"

"I totally agree, Gill, and I believe it is Rogers' fault." Graham replied. "He started this mess in the first place, by not following through your order to find and capture that meddler."

"Yeah, I figured that, too." Hill replied as he looked at Graham. "If only we can come up with something to turn the tables on him, it will be great."

The two men remained silent for a few minutes, then suddenly Graham broke the silence with a question, "Gill, Rogers is transferred from New York City, right?"

Hill nodded. Graham then asked, "Do you have any contacts over at the NYPD?"

"Yeah. I do. What's it got to do with how to get rid of Rogers?"

"I just had a thought about Rogers' record, something he might not have shown you during that interview 4 months ago, and that just gave me an idea." Graham then proceeded to tell Hill of his plan, which ended with the chief nodding his head, saying "Milo, you're sure a genius! Why didn't I come up with this before?"

* * *

_May 9, 2001_

The next day, Sam was summoned to the chief's office. He was surprised to see Inspector Graham in the office, too. Both the inspector and the chief had smirks on their faces.

"What can I do for you, chief?" Sam asks after he took a seat.

"I'll explain." Inspector Graham replied. "Remember our last discussion where you mentioned that sometimes we made decisions that can come back to haunt us?"

"Yes, I do."

"Good. Because we happen to come across something about your record, and all we can tell you is that unless you give in to the way things are running in the city, we will expose you."

"I don't understand what you are talking about."

"I've got contacts over at New York." Hill says. "And he provided something you didn't even mention during the interview four months ago." He then slipped a document over to Sam as Graham says, "You should know that there are eyes everywhere, Lieutenant."

Sam's eyes widened as he read the document. It was a NYPD Internal Affairs investigation report made 17 years ago. He was the officer subjected to the investigation in the report Graham gave him.

FLASHBACK – Seventeen Years Ago

_April 17, 1984_

Officer Sam Rogers of the New York City Police Department and his partner, his training officer, were responding to a report of a person armed with a knife over at the Port Authority Subway Station. After the suspect refused to surrender, the two officers got into a scuffle with him.

The suspect alleged that Officer Rogers had inappropriately used an excess of force while he was arrested, resulting in an Internal Affairs investigation. Officer Rogers was placed on probation for a few days until the investigators determined that Rogers did nothing wrong and was doing everything in accordance to the rules. Sam eventually made it up the ladder to the rank of lieutenant prior to his transfer to Coolsville, although the use-of-force incident remained in his record.

END OF FLASHBACK

As it turned out, the chief asked his contact, a corrupt detective in the NYPD, to find any Internal Affairs investigation records on Sam, and it turned out that this use-of-force incident was the only file they have on Sam. He had a pretty clean record as a policeman, and had a reputation as an excellent detective, but being involved in a use-of-force incident was enough for Hill to find a way to blackmail Sam into giving up his crusade for reform.

After Sam left the office, Graham and Hill were quite happy to get to this, believing that they had finally find a way to force Sam to give up.

Or so they thought.

* * *

_May 12, 2001_

Three days later, Sam was scheduled to appear at a radio talk show. Apparently, the talk for that days program was about his rescue of the six hostages a month ago. The host greatly welcomed Sam to the studio and after a series of preparations, they were on the air.

At first, the talk show mainly consisted of Sam's recount on the rescue, his take on what had happened that day. Soon, about 30 minutes towards the end of the show, the host turned the conversation into a new channel.

"So Lieutenant, have you always have a good, straight record as a law enforcement officer?"

"Not always, Mr. Harland. Nobody is perfect."

"I see. What was that exception?"

"Well, this is something that is quite difficult to speak about while on the air, but I was once involved in a use-of-force incident."

Sam looked at the host as he answered the question, expecting a surprise from him. To his surprise, Mr. Harland's face showed no surprise at all. In fact, his tone was still as calm as before as he replied, "Oh really? That must have gotten you into trouble back then."

"Yes. You can say that. I was suspended for a few days as they conducted an internal investigation, and to tell you the truth, I was quite nervous at that time, since that happened during my first two months on the job as a police officer."

"I see. And you came out all right, as it turned out."

"Yes. If that wasn't the case, then I won't be sitting in this studio right now. I might be wearing some uniform right now looking out for snoopers at a private place." Sam replied with a chuckle, which was infectious to the point where the host started to laugh as well.

After they were off the air, Sam stood up as he thanked Mr. Harland for inviting him. To his surprise, Mr. Harland and the crew members in the studio started to give him a round of applause as he stood up. There weren't any serious faces in the radio station, and even the CEO of the radio network, who was listening to the show in his office, showed up to give Sam his appreciation of showing his honesty and showing up for the radio show.

Two days after the radio show, all of the city's newspapers, radio and television news networks buzzed about the Saturday talk show Sam had took part in, and there was an editorial on the Coolsville Gazette that praised the lieutenant's honesty, as well as an editorial that indicated that the police chief will be facing tough questions in the days that lay ahead, as it was no secret among the journalists across the city that Hill was trying to blackmail Sam Rogers into giving up his work of trying to reform the police department.

As expected, the chief wasn't quite happy about the news. He had expected a drop in Sam's reputation, but it appears that he is even more popular with the press than ever. He now realized that with this bargaining chip removed, he and Graham will have to come up with another plan before things become too late.

* * *

**Next Chapter: A kidnapping.**


	14. A kidnapping

Chapter 13: A kidnapping

_May 20, 2001_

It has been more than a week since Hill and Graham's attempt to blackmail Sam into stopping his work of cleaning up the department backfired on them, as Sam remained popular with the press and the public.

Meanwhile, Oakley was also unhappy on the failure of the blackmail attempt. He knew that with Sam still standing, he will eventually lose control of the city if Sam succeeds in forcing officers under his influence to resign. He had called for a meeting with the police chief in the afternoon to discuss a strategy to turn the tables on Rogers.

In the meantime, Sam was working in his office when someone knocked on the door. He looked, and the person was Detective I Class Johnathan Tucker, the squad's only black detective. He was one of the first detectives to warm himself to the new lieutenant when Sam was transferred in 5 months back. He was also one of the first detectives in the squad to welcome Sam's new rules, and was the first to voice his concern after Sam got beaten by Stokes and his gang of officers. As such, Sam came to trust Tucker more than he trusted any of the other detectives in his squad.

"Yes, John?" Sam asked as the detective made his way into his office.

"Sir, has Kate went through the name of the possible suspect behind the Blue Falcon mask?"

"No. Who's the possible suspect?"

"A millionaire socialite art dealer with the name of Radley Crown, who lives in Big City."

"Oh, really? Why would a millionaire take up a costume just to fight criminals?"

"I have no clue, sir. However, I do know that he is currently in Coolsville for the grand opening of a massive art exhibition at the Art Museum, and then get this, our reports of sighting the Blue Falcon begin after he arrived in Coolsville. In addition, his parents were murdered when he was only 10 years old. Enough motive to take on a costume to fight criminals. Besides, it takes more than just muscles to fight criminals, sir. Whoever the Blue Falcon really is, he has to go through a series of special training and purchase the equipment he needs to fight crime. Those require a lot of money, and is something that is considered to be not affordable with Edgars salary. With the millionaire Crown, that should just work."

"Hmmm," Sam thought for a while, "That sure is a valid observation. Perhaps I should set up an interview with Mr. Crown. Any idea where he is staying?"

"He's staying over at the Blake Mansion. Apparently, he's a good friend of the city's biggest employer, Mr. George Robert Nadley Blake."

"All right, then. I should set up the interview now. Great work, John."

"Thank you, sir."

After the discussion with Tucker, Sam went online and searched for Crown's phone number. After punching in the number into the phone, he asked if he could speak to the millionaire. Soon, he was ready to go, not long after the millionaire agreed to have an interview with him in person at the Blake Mansion He laughed when Sam mentioned the Blue Falcon.

After a 20-minute drive, Sam pulled up to the visitor's parking lot of the Blake Mansion. The mansion was fairly small for a house in its category, but nevertheless, it seemed fairly large for Sam. As Sam made his way to the entrance of the mansion, he noticed something odd: There was a motorcycle parked in front of the garage. Normally, this would be usual, since the Blake's also owned motorcycles. However, when Sam saw the license plate of the motorcycle, he instantly became alert. "Something's wrong!" He thought as he quickly pushed the door open, only to discover a shocking sight.

Inside the mansion, a man in his thirties was holding on to a girl, who was crying, with a gun pointing towards her head, as the girl's parents, who Sam instantly recognized as Nadley and Elizabeth Blake, looked on helplessly. The man had a smirk on his face, as he says: "All right, you clowns. I'm out of here. If you two make a move, you'll never see your daughter again." He then turned and saw Sam standing in the doorway, gun drawn.

"Ah, Lieutenant Sam Rogers." The man exclaimed. "A pleasure to meet you in person. Too bad this pleasure won't last long, as you'll soon be in prison for the kidnapping of little Daphne Blake."

"Oh, is that so?" Sam asked. The man didn't reply, as he managed to run and push Sam to the ground. He then leaped onto his motorcycle, the one Sam saw earlier parking in front of the garage, and took off, as Sam gets up and tries to run after the thug, with no success as the man had managed to take off.

"Blast!" Sam Rogers exclaimed angrily. He turned to the Blake's, but before he could say something, Nadley says to him, "Don't worry, lieutenant. We both know that you didn't kidnap our daughter. But you have to do something before things are too late."

Before Sam could respond, a voice said, "Don't worry, George. I'll get her back. Lieutenant, I'll need you to come with me." The trio turned and look. It was Radley Crown, who looked like he is ready to come to the rescue.

Sam quickly asked, "Are you sure, Mr. Crown? That thug is armed and you –"

"Don't worry lieutenant. I can handle this. Now let's go." Sam quickly race to his car, with Crown following. Soon, they're on their way.

Much to Sam's surprise, Crown knew which direction the thug went. They soon were able to see the thug on the motorcycle in the distance. Sam, surprised at Crowns observation, asked "Mr. Crown, how did you know which route the thug is taking?"

At first, Crown didn't reply. However, when Sam looked into his eyes, he thought they looked quite familiar.

FLASHBACK – Almost Three Weeks Ago

Sam walked over to Johnson in a dazed state following the crash, with Johnson holding the Blue Falcon at gunpoint. Before Johnson asked him if he is okay, he made eye contact with the Blue Falcon. The Blue Falcon's eyes were the only thing Sam remembered seeing prior to passing out.

END OF FLASHBACK

"So you are the Blue Falcon?" Sam asked.

At first, Crown didn't reply, but then he nodded, saying, "I don the costume to fight crime to avenge my parents' deaths, who were killed when I was only 10."

"Really? And don't tell me that the reason why you couldn't turn to the police was because the city was dangerous and corrupt, so you decided to instead fight those who challenged law and order yourself."

"That's right, after almost 12 years spent abroad learning and training. Anyways, how I knew about the route the thug is taking was because last night, I was over at Oakley's base, looking for more evidence of corruption when I overheard him discussing with the police chief and an inspector with the name of Milo a plan to kidnap Daphne Blake and frame you for the crime by dropping the girl off at your place to make it look like you kidnapped the girl."

"The chief's involved, eh? That son of a gun!"

"Yeah. Right now, though, we have to focus on getting the girl back before he could drop her off at your place." Crown says as they caught up with the fleeing thug on the motorcycle.

"So what's the plan?" Sam asked. "Run him off the road." Crown replied.

"Are you sure? You're risking the girl's life."

"Trust me. I know that thug. He is capable of performing dangerous stunts and multitasking. They didn't call him 'The Stuntman' for no reason."

"All right, then." Sam says as he sped up and ran the motorcycle off the road. As Crown expected, The Stuntman managed to jump off his motorcycle, still holding onto the girl, who was unharmed, and run off. Quickly, Sam stopped the car as he and Crown got off and took chase.

Soon, they were on a bridge that goes over the Coolsville River. Sam managed to catch up with The Stuntman, who quickly turned and face him, keeping the girl away from him. The two soon engaged in a struggle, with The Stuntman saying, "You meddle once too often, lieutenant. I will put a stop to your meddling once and for all!"

"That's what you think, Farren." Sam replied as they engaged in a struggle. In the process, The Stuntman accidentally let go of the girl, who fell off the bridge.

"No!" Sam cried as the girl fell. In shock of seeing the girl fall, Sam suddenly pushed The Stuntman back and in the ensuring struggle, he caused the Stuntman to fall off the bridge as well. However, during the struggle, Crown jumped off the bridge and managed to catch the girl, who was crying. Crown managed to break his fall as he held onto the girl, allowing them to land in the shallow water below harmlessly while The Stuntman was not so fortunate, having had created a huge splash as he landed in the water.

Soon, Sam was down at the river, with an unconscious Stuntman by his side, handcuffed. Crown managed to comfort the girl, who then stopped crying. Sam looked at him and then said, "I think you better get going before my men arrive, Mr. Crown"

Crown nodded as he offered his hand to Sam, saying, "It is nice working with you, Lieutenant Rogers."

Sam nodded as they shook hands. "I'll make sure to keep your secret identity a secret, Mr. Crown."

"Thank you. I hope we meet again, Lieutenant."

"Oh, you can call me Sam."

"Sure thing, Sam." With that, Crown, with the girl in his arms, took off as Sam looked on.

* * *

**So the secret identity of the Blue Falcon has been revealed. One more chapter to go.**

**Please read and review!**


	15. Epilogue

Chapter 14: Epilogue

_July 1, 2001_

It has been more than a month since Sam had foiled the kidnapping of Daphne Blake, with the help of Radley Crown. During that rescue, Sam managed to figure out that the Blue Falcon and Radley Crown are one and the same, although he chose to keep the knowledge to himself. The day after the failed kidnapping, Sam went over to the chief's office, accompanied by his trusted Detective John Tucker and a handcuffed and humiliated Stuntman, where they told the chief that they knew the plan and that it had backfired on him, Graham and Oakley and that there's no stopping to his crusade for reform, shocking the chief in the process.

The chief's troubles were only set to worsen after Sam revealed to him that he and Tucker knew that he had conspired with Inspector Graham and Oakley to arrange the kidnapping. A few days after the surprise, former CPD detective sergeant Arnold Stokes agreed to the plea bargain offered by Assistant DA Don Edgar. In exchange for a lighter sentence, he will testify against Hill and Oakley.

Sam was in court during Stokes' testimony. He was surprised at the fact that his former partner is smarter than he thought. As it turned out, Stokes had took detailed notes of his dealings with the mob, which included evidence of the chief's connections to the mob.

As a result of Stokes' testimony, Edgar was able to successfully charge Police Chief Gillian Hill for corruption and conspiracy. However, with a judge known for giving breaks to defendants on the case, Hill got no prison sentence.

In spite of not being sentenced to prison, Hill decided that resigning from his post as police chief was the best interest for him. He resigned the day after the trial, after meeting with Mayor O'Toole to discuss his terms for his resignation.

The new chief of police was a fellow who goes by the name of Peter "Pete" Masters. He was a deputy chief of the Gotham City Police Department and was transferred to Coolsville a few months back.

Meanwhile, Oakley was outraged at The Stuntman's failure, and had ordered his murder, which occurred before Hill resigned. However, a high-level member of a well-known mafia based in Chicago was injured badly during the murder attempt, resulting in the head of that organization declaring war on Oakley.

With Oakley engaged in a gang war with the mafia group based in Chicago, he wasn't able to stand in the way of Sam's promotion to captain. The promotion also gave Sam higher authority, and he, along with the now-Detective Sergeant Tucker were transferred to the elite Special Investigations Bureau, which operated from the police headquarters in downtown Coolsville and investigates high-profile cases that includes cold cases, as well as murders and robberies that can't be solved by detective squads in the geographical divisions.

As Sam looks back at the seven months that went by, he couldn't help but think of the Blue Falcon/Radley Crown. Without his help, he would still be fighting an uphill battle against a crooked police chief under the influence of a powerful mob boss.

That evening, Captain Sam Rogers stood on the rooftop of the police headquarters, accompanied by Tucker. The night before, they had come across the murder of a chemical industrialist (**Here's a reference to Batman's first case from Detective Comics Issue #27, first published in May 1939**). The murder was deemed unsolvable by the police, but Sam and John felt that there is someone they know who might be able to solve the crime.

"Are you ready, John?" Sam asked.

"I sure am, captain." Tucker replied as he yanked a cloth off an object. The object looked like a giant searchlight, which was pointing towards the sky and has the shape of blue falcon pasted on the lenses. Tucker then pulled a lever, activating the light, which creates a projection of the light with the blue falcon emblem in the night sky (A reference to the Bat Signal).

A few minutes later, a figure swing in and landed on the rooftop. After greeting the captain and the detective sergeant, the figure asked, "What can I do for you?"

"The police had come across a murder case last night, but with little clues and no witnesses, we thought that you may be able to help out, Blue Falcon." Sam replied.

"All right, then. So what's the case?"

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